Reprogramming nodes in a wireless automation system

ABSTRACT

A method for wireless communication within a building automation system is disclosed. The method includes establishing a communication connection between a wireless device and a controller, and communicating an upgrade packet to the wireless device from the controller. The method further includes executing the upgrade packet to upgrade the wireless device or a building automation component connected to the wireless device. A building automation system is further disclosed. The system includes a controller configured to provide a software module, and a wireless transceiver in communication with the controller and configured to communicate the software module. The system further includes a wireless device in communication with the wireless transceiver and configured to receive the software module to upgrade the wireless device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent claims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/823,916 (2006P18581 US),filed on Aug. 30, 2006, and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.60/823,807 (2006P17942 US), filed on Aug. 29, 2006, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

This patent relates to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/590,157 (2006P18573 US), filed on Oct. 31, 2006 which claims thepriority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional patentapplication 60/823,906, filed on Aug. 30, 2006, and to co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/915,034 (2004P13093 US), filed on Aug. 8,2004, the contents of these applications are hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure generally relates to building automation systems.In particular, the present disclosure relates to wirelesslyreprogramming and updating wired and wireless building automationcomponents within a building automation system.

A building automations system (BAS) typically integrates and controlselements and services within a structure such as the heating,ventilation and air conditions (HVAC) system, security services, firesystems and the like. The integrated and controlled systems are arrangedand organized into one or more floor level networks (FLNs) containingapplication or process specific controllers, sensors, actuators, orother devices distributed or wired to form a network. The floor levelnetworks provide general control for a particular floor or region of thestructure. For example, a floor level network may be an RS-485compatible network that includes one or more controllers or applicationspecific controllers configured to control the elements or serviceswithin a floor or region of the structure. The controllers may, in turn,be configured to receive an input from a sensor or other device such as,for example, a temperature sensor (RTS) deployed to monitor a room,floor or region of the structure. The input provided to the controller,in this example, may be a temperature indication representative of thephysical temperature detected within a given floor or region of thestructure. The temperature indication can be utilized by a processcontrol routine such as a proportional-integral control routine executedby the controller to drive or adjust a damper, heating element, coolingelement or other actuator towards a predefined set-point.

Information such as the temperature indication, sensor readings and/oractuator positions provided to one or more controllers operating withina given floor level network may, in turn, be communicated to anautomation level network (ALN) or building level network (BLN)configured to, for example, execute control applications, routines orloops, coordinate time-based activity schedules, monitor priority basedoverrides or alarms and provide field level information to technicians.Building level networks and the included floor level networks may, inturn, be integrated into an optional management level network (MLN) thatprovides a system for distributed access and processing to allow forremote supervision, remote control, statistical analysis and otherhigher level functionality. Examples and additional information relatedto BAS configuration and organization may be found in the co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/590,157 (2006P18573US), filed onOct. 31, 2006, and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/915,034 (2004P13093US), filed on Aug. 8, 2004, the contents of theseapplications are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

Wireless devices such as devices that comply with IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBeeprotocols may be implemented within the control scheme of a buildingautomation system without incurring additional wiring or installationcosts. ZigBee-compliant devices such as full function devices (FFD) andreduced function devices (RFD) may be interconnected to establish orprovide a device net or mesh within the building automation system. Forexample, full function devices are designed with the processing powernecessary to establish peer-to-peer connections with other full functiondevices and/or execute control routines specific to a floor or region ofa floor level network. Each of the full function devices may, in turn,communicate with one or more of the reduced function devices in a huband spoke arrangement. Reduced function devices such as the temperaturesensor described above are designed with limited processing powernecessary to perform a specific task(s) and communicate informationdirectly to the connected full function device.

Wired and wireless devices utilized in a building automation systemtypically have a service life of between ten (10) and twenty (20) years.During that period wired or wireless communications standards can beexpected to change and evolve to incorporate new software features,component capabilities and industry requirements. Components of thebuilding automation system may become obsolete or incompatible withother aspects or components of an existing building automation systemthat conforms to updated communications standards or protocols.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure generally provides for methods, systems, computerreadable media, and tools for configuring, upgrading, or communicatingwith wireless devices and other BAS components in communication with awired or wireless communications network. Upgrade software such as afirmware program, a software module, an instruction packet, a databaseand/or other computer executable instructions may be are stored on asource node such as, for example, a controller, processor, wirelessdevice, server, laptop or other computer. The upgrade software may, inturn, be communicated to wireless devices and other BAS components incommunication with the source node via the wired or wirelesscommunications network for upgrade and execution.

In one embodiment, a method for wireless communication within a buildingautomation system is disclosed. The method includes establishing awireless communication connection between a controller or source nodeand an automation component and/or a wireless device, and communicatingan upgrade packet to the automation component from the controller orsource node. The method further includes executing the upgrade packet toupgrade the automation component.

In another embodiment, a building automation system is disclosed. Thesystem includes a controller or source node configured to provide asoftware module, and a wireless transceiver in communication with thecontroller or source node and configured to communicate the softwaremodule. The system further includes a wireless device in communicationwith the wireless transceiver, wherein the wireless device isupgradeable in response to receiving the communicated software module.

In another embodiment, a method for wireless communication within abuilding automation system is disclosed. The method includes providingfirmware to a building automation component and wirelessly communicatingthe firmware to a wireless device. The method further includes executingthe firmware on a processor within the wireless device to upgrade thewireless device.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention aredescribed in, and will be apparent from, the following DetailedDescription and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The method, system and teaching provide for programming, reprogrammingand updating wireless devices within a building automation system (BAS).The method, system and teaching further provide for fast and efficientinteractions with a single wireless device or multiple wireless devicesdistributed throughout a BAS.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a building automation systemconstructed in a disclosure provided herein; and

FIGS. 2 to 8 illustrate exemplary system and communicationsconfigurations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments discussed herein include automation components, wirelessdevices and transceivers. The devices may be IEEE802.15.4/ZigBee-compliant automation components such as: a personal areanetwork (PAN) coordinator which may be implemented as a field paneltransceivers (FPX); a full function device (FFD) implemented as a floorlevel device transceiver (FLNX); and a reduced function device (RFD)implemented as a wireless room temperature sensor (WRTS) that may beutilized in a building automation system (BAS). The devices identifiedherein are provided as an example of automation components, wirelessdevices and transceivers that may be integrated and utilized within abuilding automation system embodying the teachings disclosed herein andare not intended to limit the type, functionality and interoperabilityof the devices and teaching discussed and claimed herein.

One exemplary building automation system that may include the devicesand be configured as described above is the APOGEE® system provided bySiemens Building Technologies, Inc. The APOGEE® system may implementRS-485 wired communications, Ethernet, proprietary and standardprotocols, as well as known wireless communications standards such as,for example, IEEE 802.15.4 wireless communications which are compliantwith the ZigBee standards and/or ZigBee certified wireless devices orautomation components. ZigBee standards, proprietary protocols or otherstandards are typically implemented in embedded applications that mayutilize low data rates and/or require low power consumption. Moreover,ZigBee standards and protocols are suitable for establishinginexpensive, self-organizing, mesh networks which may be suitable forindustrial control and sensing applications such as building automation.Thus, a building automation system such as the APOGEE® system configuredin compliance with ZigBee standards or protocols may require limitedamounts of power allowing individual wireless devices, to operate forextended periods of time on a finite battery charge.

The wired or wireless devices such as the IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee-compliantautomation components may include, for example, an RS-232 connectionwith an RJ11 or other type of connector, an RJ45 Ethernet compatibleport, and/or a universal serial bus (USB) connection. These wired,wireless devices or automation components may, in turn, be configured toinclude or interface with a separate wireless transceiver or othercommunications peripheral thereby allowing the wired device tocommunicate with the building automation system via the above-describedwireless protocols or standards. Alternatively, the separate wirelesstransceiver may be coupled to a wireless device such as a IEEE802.15.4/ZigBee-compliant automation component to allow forcommunications via a second communications protocol such as, forexample, 802.11x protocols (802.11a, 802.11b . . . 802.11n, etc.) Theseexemplary wired, wireless devices may further include a man-machineinterface (MMI) such as a web-based interface screen that provide accessto configurable properties of the device and allow the user to establishor troubleshoot communications between other devices and elements of theBAS.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary building automation system or controlsystem 100 that may incorporate the methods, systems and teachingprovided herein. The control system 100 includes a first network 102such as an automation level network (ALN) or management level network(MLN) in communication with one or more controllers such as a pluralityof terminals 104 and a modular equipment controller (MEC) 106. Themodular equipment controller or controller 106 is a programmable devicewhich may couple the first network 102 to a second network 108 such as afloor level network (FLN). The second network 108, in this exemplaryembodiment, may include a wired network 122 that connects to buildingautomation components 110 (individually identified as automationcomponents 110 a to 110 f). The second network 108 may further becoupled to wireless building automation components 112. For example, thebuilding automation components 112 may include wireless devicesindividually identified as automation components 112 a to 112 f. In oneembodiment, the automation component 112 f may be a wired device thatmay or may not include wireless functionality and connects to theautomation component 112 e. In this configuration, the automationcomponent 112 f may utilize or share the wireless functionality providedby the automation component 112 e to define an interconnected wirelessnode 114.

The control system 100 may further include automation componentsgenerally identified by the reference numerals 116 a to 116 g. Theautomation components 116 a to 116 g may be configured or arranged toestablish one or more networks or subnets 118 a and 118 b. Theautomation components 116 a to 116 g such as, for example, full orreduced function devices and/or a configurable terminal equipmentcontroller (TEC), cooperate to wirelessly communicate informationbetween the second network 108, the control system 100 and other deviceswithin the mesh networks or subnets 118 a and 118 b. For example, theautomation component 116 a may communicate with other automationcomponents 116 b to 116 d within the mesh network 118 a by sending amessage addressed to the network identifier, alias and/or media accesscontrol (MAC) address assigned to each of the interconnected automationcomponents 116 a to 116 g and/or to a field panel 120. In oneconfiguration, the individual automation components 116 a to 116 dwithin the subnet mesh network 118 a may communicate directly with thefield panel 120 or, alternatively, the individual automation components116 a to 116 d may be configured in a hierarchal manner such that onlyone of the components for example, automation component 116 c,communicates with the field panel 120. The automation components 116 eto 116 g of the mesh network 118 b may, in turn, communicate with theindividual automation components 116 a to 116 d of the mesh network 118a or the field panel 120.

The automation components 112 e and 112 f defining the wireless node 114may wirelessly communicate with the second network 108, and theautomation components 116 e to 116 g of the mesh network 118 b tofacilitate communications between different elements, section andnetworks within the control system 100. For example, the automationcomponents 112, 116 may be configured to communicate software and/orfirmware between each other, the field panel 120, the second network108, one or more of the controllers 106, or terminals 104 or othercomponent of the control system 100. The software may be stored involatile memory and/or the firmware may be stored in non-volatile memoryand executed by a processor (not shown) to upgrade the software orfirmware associated with the automation components 112, 116. As usedherein, the communicated software or firmware may be embedded software,individual software instructions, commands, functions, segments ormodules, software packets, subroutines, binaries, images, data,databases and/or complete upgrades of the software/firmware operativelyresident on the receiving automation component. Wireless communicationbetween individual the automation components 112, 116 and/or the meshnetworks 118 a, 118 b may be conducted in a direct or point-to-pointmanner, or in an indirect or routed manner through the nodes or devicescomprising the nodes or networks 102, 108, 114 and 118. In an alternateembodiment, the wired network 122 is not provided, and further wirelessconnections may be utilized.

FIG. 2 illustrates one communication configuration which may beimplemented to facilitate transmittal and upgrade of software and/orfirmware between components of the control system 100. For example, acontroller or computer 200 may include a communications port such as,for example, a serial or COM port, a USB port, etc., adapted for wiredcommunications with a port 202 provided on one of the automationcomponents 112, 116. The computer 200 which may be a terminal 104operating within the first network 102 may act as a source node tocentrally store and/or distribute the software or firmware to beprovided to the automation components 112, 116 (alternate source nodeconfigurations are illustrate and discussed in connection with FIG. 5),and may utilize a generic file transfer protocol (ftp) application, aHyperTerminal communications program bundled as a part of the MICROSOFT®WINDOWS® or LINUX operating systems, or any other communications programcapable of data point-to-point or point-to-many transfer. Thecommunications program can be utilized to transfer information such assoftware or firmware from the source node or computer 200 to theapplicable automation component 112, 116. The transferred software orfirmware can be temporarily stored in ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash orbattery backed-up RAM or any other non-volatile computer memory portionof the automation component 112, 116. The memory may include abootloader program executable on a processor and configured to run orinstall the transferred software or firmware necessary to reprogram orupgrade all or a portion of the software or firmware executed by theautomation component 112, 116. The upgrade may, for example, occur whenthe components are inactive to maximize processor performance, or it mayoccur in the background while the components are operating to providecontinuity of performance. The upgrades may be provided to theautomation component 112, 116 in order to: provide or enable newfirmware features; ensure compatibility with new or updatedcommunications standards or protocols; implement a new operating systemor software.

FIG. 3 illustrates another communication configuration implemented tofacilitate transmittal and upgrade of software and/or firmware betweencomponents of the control system 100. In this embodiment, the sourcenode or computer 200 is coupled to, includes, or is in communicationwith, a wireless transceiver 204. The wireless transceiver 204 may be aninternal plug-in, and external plug-in or other device connected to thecomputer 200. The wireless transceiver 204 may be utilized to providethe computer 200 with two-way communications with other devices within agiven area or a prescribed communications network, such as, for example,one or more of the mesh networks 118 a, 118 b. The computer 200, in thisembodiment, operates as a source node configured to disseminate theupgrade software or firmware via a communications program to a wirelesstransceiver 206 coupled via an external connector 206 a to theautomation component 116 to be upgraded or reprogrammed. The transferredsoftware or firmware may be executed via a bootloader program residentor stored in a boot block portion of the memory provided in theautomation components 116. The wireless transceivers 204 and 206 can beintegral components of the computer 200 and the automation component116, respectively, or add-on components connected thereto. In analternate scenario, the wireless transceivers 204 and 206 may cooperateto access a third wireless transceiver portion of another wirelesstransceiver (not shown). As used herein, wireless devices may identifyan automation component 116 in which the wireless transceiver 206 isboth an add-on component and an integral component of the devicearchitecture. Thus, regardless of the structure or location of thewireless transceiver, the upgrade software or firmware can becommunicated through one or more of the mesh networks 118 a, 118 b tovarious communicatively coupled wireless devices and automationcomponents 116.

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another communication configuration implementedto facilitate transmittal and upgrade of software and/or firmwarebetween components of the control system 100. The computer 200 or sourcenode may be a portable or a laptop computer suitable for transportthroughout the structure controlled or monitored by the control system100. The laptop 200 may further include an integral wireless transceiver204 such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) connector or adaptor; aBLUETOOTH® adaptor, an infrared port, a wide area network (WAN) adaptor,an 802.15.4/ZigBee adaptor, 802.15.4/Proprietary Mesh Stack adaptor orother connection or communication device existing now or in the future.The wireless transceiver 204 may provide for communications between thesource node 200 storing the upgrade software, firmware or instructions,and the automation component 116 e. The automation component 116 e, inthis configuration, may contain or be currently executing software,firmware such as an application binary. For example, if the automationcomponent 116 e is late generation (recent) device, the applicationbinary executing on the device may be the most up-to-date software orfirmware operating within control system 100. In this instance, it maybe desirable to provide this up-to-date firmware to other devices withinthe mesh network 118 b or network 108.

The computer 200 may execute a wireless service tool instructed orconfigured to initiate, either manually or automatically, or otherwiseestablish communications with the automation component 116 e and createa copy or clone of the up-to-date software or firmware. The up-to-datesoftware or firmware may, in turn, be communicated from the automationcomponent 116 e to a destination automation component 116 f. At thispoint, the transferred software or firmware may, for example, beexecuted via a bootloader program resident or stored in a boot blockportion of the automation component's 116 f memory. In an alternatescenario, the destination automation component may be another automationcomponent 116 g (not explicitly shown in FIG. 4) within the mesh network118 b, and the automation component 116 f may simply act as a relay forthe communicated software or firmware. In yet another alternatescenario, multiple automation components 116 may be upgraded serially(one by one) or in parallel (all at the same time) with the software,firmware or instruction packet(s) provided by automation component 116e. In yet another alternate scenario, the destination automationcomponent 112 e may be directly wired, networked or otherwise coupled toa wireless device or automation component 112 f to allow the upgrade tobe wirelessly communicated to the automation component 112 f through thecomponent 112 e.

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another communication configuration implementedto facilitate transmittal and upgrade of software and/or firmwarebetween components of the control system 100. In this configuration, thesoftware or firmware upgrade resides on the computer 200 or acommunicatively connected automation component 116 a. The computer 200and the automation component 116 a may form a source node or cluster208. The source node 208 may be any logically or communicatively coupledgroup of computers, automation components and/or controllers that storeor contain source software instructions and/or firmware fordistribution. A control or scheduling program (not shown) may execute onone of the devices within the source node 208. The scheduling programmay automatically connect to all of the automation components 112, 116within the control system 100. Alternatively the scheduling program maybe configured to selectively connect to specific automation componentssuch as, for example, the automation components 116 e, 112 c, based oncriteria such as: an update schedule, hardware versions or capabilities,network address or any other method of selectively connecting. Thesoftware and/or firmware for distribution may be automaticallycommunicated via the scheduling program to mass download, reflash thenew software and/or firmware or update the selected automationcomponents in accordance with the defined schedule or criteria. Asindicated by the arrow A, the scheduling program may be configured toserially (one at a time) update the each of the identified or selectedautomation components within a designated mesh network 118 b, network108 or control system 100. Upon completion of the mass reflash orupdate, the scheduling program may log or otherwise inform the user ofthe system status. For example, the user may be shown that reflash orupdate status which may include information such as, upgrade success orfailure, or firmware version, of each automation component within themesh network 118

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another communication configuration implementedto facilitate a broadcast reflash or update of the wireless automationcomponents 112, 116 operating within the control system 100. In thisconfiguration, the software or firmware upgrade may reside on thecomputer 200, on one of the automation components 112, 116, or withinthe cluster or source node 208. The scheduling or control program, asdiscussed above, may execute on the computer 200 or one of the otherdevices with the source node 208. In one example, the scheduling programcould establish communication with a particular type of automationcomponent with the mesh network 118 b. Thus, communications may beestablished with reduced function devices such as, for example, wirelessroom temperature sensors, identified as the automation components 116 e,116 f and 116 g. The scheduling program may communicate the softwareand/or firmware to be updated to designated memory space 210 e, 210 fand 210 g available within each of the devices. The communicatedsoftware may, in turn, be executed and/or uncompressed (from, forexample, an fdata/file format) in the background; thereby allowing theautomation components 116 e, 116 f and 116 g to continue operatingnormally until the upgrade has been completed. In this configuration,all of the identified or selected wireless devices or automationcomponents 112, 116 can be simultaneously upgraded or reflashed to a newsoftware/firmware revision level in a single operation.

FIG. 7 illustrates yet another communication configuration implementedto facilitate a virus reflash or update of the wireless automationcomponents 112, 116 operating within the control system 100. In thisconfiguration, the software or firmware upgrade may reside on thecomputer 200, on one of the automation components 112, 116 or within thecluster or node 208. The scheduling or control program can cause one ofthe automation components 116 e to fully or partially upgrade. Theupgraded automation component 116 e may, in turn, initiate a full orpartial upgrade or reflash of the software or firmware executed by oneor more of the automation components 112, 116. Thus, the upgrade wouldbe communicated or spread between the automation components 112, 116within the control system 100. As previously discussed the automationcomponents 112, 116 to be upgraded may, for example, be identifiedwithin the scheduling or control program, may be identified by theupgraded automation component 116 e, or may simply accept allcommunicated software and/or firmware upgrades and initiate a check ofconfirmation of the information prior to implementation or execution.

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another communication configuration implementedto facilitate an automatic reflash or update of the software or firmwareexecuted by one or more of the wireless automation components 112, 116operating within the control system 100. For example, if a newautomation component 116 a were to be installed within the mesh network118 a, the hardware and firmware capabilities of this device could beavailable to the devices with the mesh network 118 a or communicativelyconnected to the mesh network 118 a. Thus, if the new automationcomponent 116 a includes an updated or newer version of operatingsoftware or firmware, this new software or firmware, could be providedto upgrade all or selected devices in communication with the meshnetwork 118 a or the network 108. In this way, automation devices 116 dand 112 b may be automatically upgraded to include the latest firmwareby simply installing a new device. This configuration could beimplemented without the need for a separate computer 200 and may simplyrely on the intelligence and capabilities of the automation components112, 116 themselves.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. For example, the elements of theseconfigurations could be arranged and interchanged in any known mannerdepending upon the system requirements, performance requirements, andother desired capabilities. Moreover the upgrade operations could beperformed manually utilizing known communications tools provided incommercially available operating systems. Alternatively, the upgradeoperations could be performed via one of the terminals 104 operating inconjunction with the control system 100. These upgrade operation andcommunications may be performed manually by a user interacting with thecontrol system 100 and the automation components 112, 116, orautomatically by configuring the control program to run or execute theseoperations in a predefined manner. Well understood changes andmodifications can be made based on the teachings and disclosure providedby the present invention and without diminishing from the intendedadvantages disclosed herein. It is therefore intended that such changesand modifications be covered by the appended claims.

1. A method for wireless communication within a building automationsystem, the method comprising: establishing a wireless communicationconnection between an automation component and a controller;communicating an upgrade packet to the automation component from thecontroller; and executing the upgrade packet, wherein the upgrade packetis programmed to upgrade the automation component.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the communication connection is established between acommunication port disposed in communication with the controller and aserial port disposed in communication with the automation component. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the communication connection is a wiredcommunication connection.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theautomation component is in communication with at least a secondautomation component and wherein the controller communicates the upgradepacket to the second automation component via the automation component.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the upgrade packet is communicated tothe automation component comprises a firmware upgrade.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the automation component comprises a processor and amemory in communication with the processor, and wherein the memory isconfigured to store the firmware upgrade and the processor is configuredto execute the stored firmware upgrade.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein the controller is configured to execute the firmware upgrade andcommunicate the results to the automation component via the establishedcommunication connection.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theestablishing a communication connection comprises communicating with awireless adaptor.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein executing comprisesexecuting a bootloader configured to perform a firmware upgrade based onthe upgrade packet.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the automationcomponent is coupled to a building automation component configured to bewirelessly upgraded via the automation component.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the controller is selected from the group consistingof: a second automation component, a source node, a terminal, and aportable computer.
 12. A building automation system comprising: acontroller configured to provide a software module; a wirelesstransceiver in communication with the controller, wherein the wirelesstransceiver is configured to communicate the software module; and awireless device in communication with the wireless transceiver, thewireless device upgradeable in response to receiving the communicatedsoftware module.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller andthe wireless transceiver are a portable computer.
 14. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the wireless device is in communication with at leasta second wireless device, and wherein the controller communicates thesoftware module to the second wireless device via the wireless device.15. The system of claim 12 further comprising a second wireless devicein communication with the controller, wherein the second wireless deviceis configured to provide the software module to the controller.
 16. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the wireless device comprises a processorand a memory in communication with the processor and wherein the memoryis configured to store the software module and the processor isconfigured to execute the stored software module.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the memory stores a bootloader configured to executeon the processor to perform a firmware upgrade based on the softwaremodule.
 18. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller is configuredto execute a firmware upgrade and communicate the results to thewireless device via the wireless transceiver.
 19. The system of claim12, wherein the wireless device comprises a wireless adaptor coupled toa building automation component.
 20. A method for wireless communicationwithin a building automation system, the method comprising: providingfirmware to a building automation component; wirelessly communicatingthe firmware to a wireless device; and executing the firmware on aprocessor within the wireless device, the firmware programmed to upgradethe wireless device.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein providing isperformed by a portable computer.
 22. The method of claim 20, whereinproviding is performed by a second wireless device in communication witha controller.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the controller isselected from the group consisting of: a second automation component, asource node, a terminal, and a portable computer.
 24. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the building automation component is a second wirelessdevice in wireless communication with wireless device.
 25. The method ofclaim 20, wherein providing is performed by executing a plurality ofsoftware instructions on a controller in communication with the buildingautomation component.